


Plan B

by multifandomcircusfreak



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fitzsimmons Secret Valentine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-13 01:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3362459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifandomcircusfreak/pseuds/multifandomcircusfreak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitzsimmons try to make their first Valentine's Day together memorable, even in the wake of disaster caused by a certain Lance Hunter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plan B

**Author's Note:**

> My FSV gift for fitzyandsimms.tumblr.com. The prompt was: Fitz and Simmons being absolutely adorable together on their first valentine's day together. A very special thank you to littlescienceloves and Aretsuna for betaing!

"Can I open my eyes now?" Jemma asked playfully, allowing her boyfriend to lead her by the hands to whatever surprise he had planned for her. She'd let him guide her down countless hallways, and now she was filled with anticipation. There weren't many pleasant surprises on this base, so she looked forward to what little things she could.

"No!" he cried. "Keep 'em shut!"

"Alright, alright..." she muttered. Jemma switched directions when she felt him tug her arms. How many turns had they taken? She swore, if they turned out to just be in the garage when she opened her eyes, and Fitz has just taken her on a detour to throw her off, she would give a fit.

She could feel Fitz slow his steps. "There," he concluded. "Open your eyes."

Jemma grinned, and slowly opened her eyes to see what he did. When she was able to take in the sight, she couldn't help but let out a small gasp.

She was standing in a room that looked like a spare garage, and in front of her was a giant circuit board, covered in wires and different colored LED lights, mapping out some words that she couldn't decipher when they weren't turned on. Due to what day it was, she had a pretty good idea, but she still wanted to know what the sign said. If her hypothesis was correct, she wanted to see it even more. 

"What does it say?" she asked, slightly breathless, turning around to face her favorite engineer.

Fitz rocked on his heels, grinning from ear to ear. "I'll show you." He dashed over to a control panel on the other side of the room.

The grin didn't leave his face as he held a large lever in place, staring at Jemma knowingly. "Three... Two... One..." 

At the last beat he threw down the control lever, turning on the board. Jemma's smile only got bigger when each of the little lights sparked on in a dance of mechanical brilliance, each one coming on one by one, so quickly that it gave her vertigo.

In big bright letters, the sign flashed "I LOVE YOU JEMMA SIMMONS".

She hurried to where he stood, barely giving him time to prepare before jumping towards him in a fashion resembling a tackle. He caught her, holding her close to him, arms wrapped around her back. 

"Do you like it?" he asked sheepishly.

"Yes!" she responded enthusiastically, not telling him that she'd been wanting to hear those words spoken - or written, for a very long time. "Even though it's so cheesy."

"Every rose has its thorn."

Jemma laughed. "You did not just reference that song. Of all of them." She shifted in his hold so that she was mere inches away from his face. "Remind me again why I love you so much?" she breathed.

He opened his mouth to respond, probably to say something like 'because I'm lovable', but before he could answer she slotted her lips against his in one swift motion. 

Fitz took a step back at her force, so that he was against the wall. Her hands gripped his hair and she kissed him with a passion that she would usually blush just thinking about. But this was Valentine's day, and that caused for celebration.

It wasn't as if she hadn't had a date on Valentine's Day. There had been multiple times at the Academy, or even her adult life that she'd gone out for the festivities with a romantic partner, but this time was different.

This year, it meant something more. She'd had boyfriends, but she'd never loved a guy as much as she loved Fitz. She knew that she was attractive, it was a fact, but no one made her feel as beautiful as she did when she was with her best friend. It had taken her years to figure out that what she felt for the man standing in front of her was more than platonic. So, yes. Considering that this was their first Valentine's day as a couple, it meant something more. Jemma Simmons was not going to be deterred from snogging her boyfriend against a wall, thank you very much.

He lifted a hand to cup her cheek, using it as support to deepen the kiss, and she hummed contentedly. She had no intention of stopping before inevitably needing air, so they stayed like that for who knows how long. Had Skye seen them, she would have had a field day. But, Jemma didn't like thinking about her nosy friend while her hands roamed Fitz's upper body.

Eventually, they broke away, gasping like fish out of water. Jemma panted for a good minute, waiting until she regained her breath before speaking.

"How much energy does it use? It looks kind of big," she commented, sliding her fingers along the collar of his shirt.

"Well... I didn't get permission to use a self-sustaining power source, so the sign is currently running on the base's power lines," he answered guiltily, as if he'd done something wrong.

"What if it blows a fuse?!" she exclaimed, not wanting to be responsible for a nationwide power outage if her special surprise caused problems.

"I'd rather not think about that," Fitz admitted. "But I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Fitz..." she said, letting her words trail off meaningfully.

He looked at her intently, making her heart flutter against her will, and her resolve melt away. "Alright... Alright, if you say that it'll be fine."

He grinned and took her hands in his own. "Okay, so what do you want to do? We can't leave the base, Coulson is already gone off with May and Skye. I think they're infiltrating a bachelor's party to get intel. Mack is taking the night off to sleep... Said something about how he's taking advantage of the few extra hours he can get."

"Bobbi and Hunter?" Jemma asked. She was really into the idea of having the base (mostly) to themselves. To have no interruptions... heaven.

Fitz rubbed the back of his neck. "Hunter was in the lounge last time I saw him. I'm pretty sure he's just complaining to Trip about his horrible experiences with Bobbi. Who is getting drunk, I think. I caught her stealing Skye's cherry vodka."

Jemma made a face. "How do they even drink that stuff?"

Fitz shrugged. Every time Skye drank, it would be some new, miscellaneous flavor of liquor. So far, Jemma had counted blueberry, cherry, cotton candy, apple twist, lemon, and some strange liquid that looked like a galaxy in a bottle. Was wine not good enough for her?

"Let's not think about them right now," Fitz commented. He pulled her closer - very close, and if Jemma wasn't so in tune with the human body and its abilities, she would have sworn that she swallowed her tongue. "Tonight's about you and me," he affirmed. 

Jemma was seconds away from kissing him senseless when his darkened eyes lit up in a boyish grin, and he removed his hands from around her waist -much to her discontent, to hold both her hands.

"Plus, I've got the entire evening planned out!" he exclaimed, melting her frustration about his teasing away.

"Do you now?" she laughed.

"Yes! We will start with the best episodes of Doctor Who, then we will watch the cheesiest romcoms that we can find, and make fun of them. It's very important that we avoid Hunter and Bobbi, because they are single, sad, and drunk. Dinner will be at eight, and what we do after that... is up to you."

Jemma liked this plan. 

Fitz opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by a large crash coming from the hallway. 

"What on earth?" Fitz wondered aloud before his question was answered by a certain Lance Hunter swinging himself around the corner. 

The man was obviously drunk, Jemma could tell by the way he sloppily leaned against the doorframe. Hunter only seemed mildly concerned about whatever he had just broken. 

"That vase wasn't important was it?" he slurred, lifting a hand to vaguely gesture towards the direction he'd come from. He quickly lost whatever interest he'd just had when he saw the bright sign behind the two scientists.

He walked over (if you could call it walking, he looked like he'd just been turned around in a circle twenty times) and clapped Fitz on the back. "So we've got a lover boy here, huh? I once got Bobbi a gift for valentine's day. She threw it at me. Apparently a picture of her face cut out onto the body of a celebrity is not sufficient."

Jemma glanced over at Fitz, who looked just as baffled as she felt. She'd seen what bodily harm Bobbi could inflict when angered. How was Hunter still alive? And how was it possible to be such a bad husband? He really set the bar.

"What?!" she exclaimed.

He raised his hands up in defense. "She said she wanted to go to the Caribbean! That was setting of the picture!"

Fitzsimmons facepalmed simultaneously. At least he tried. 

Hunter looked around the room and his eyes caught on the control panel on the wall behind them. Marching over to it, he asked, "Does it go any brighter?"

Fitz, sensing that nothing good could come from this, winced when Lance placed a hand on the lever, and answered reluctantly, "Probably... The - the power source is capable of enhancing the light of the bulbs. But, I wouldn't do that!"

Hunter smirked and with a mischievous glance that Jemma knew was not entirely from the alcohol he'd consumed in his eyes, he threw down the lever.

The sign, which was already quite bright, grew brighter. The light coming from each bulb multiplied by ten. Jemma looked away, Fitz shaded his eyes with his hand, and Hunter guffawed a Viking laugh that Jemma hoped she would never hear again in her lifetime. 

Finally, it seemed to stop. After several seconds, Jemma risked a glance over. She wished she didn't.

"Fitz, is it supposed to spark?"

"What?! No!" he exclaimed.

The sign had little jets of light shooting out of it sporadically and a few of the bulbs blinked in and out of life. That couldn't be good.

"No, no, no!" Fitz yelled frantically, shoving Hunter out of the way so that he could look over the control panel and fix it. He fumbled with a few dials, but it was too late. The billboard shut off - along with the rest of the power.

Suddenly they were in complete darkness.

"Hunter, what did you do?!" Jemma cried. The mercenary chose to stay silent. 

She heard the clanking of someone sifting through a box of tools, before Fitz clicked a flashlight to life, illuminating his face. Jemma got deja vu of their little incident with a certain dimension jumping psychopath all that time ago. Fitz ran out of the room into the hallway and a few seconds later he ran back in, gesturing back to that direction.

"Power's out," he confirmed. "Look's like the entire base went dark."

Jemma barely restrained herself from glaring at Hunter, who was taking advantage of the lack of light, and was sinking into the shadows. "How long until it's back?" she asked. 

"The circuit's fried, but the systems will reboot. The good news is Coulson won't have to know, it'll be up and running before he's back."

Jemma hesitated, catching his implication that there was more, less pleasant news to follow. "What's the bad news?"

"Well... It looks like we'll be out of power for the rest of the night. Sorry, Jem."

She sighed. It seems like their plan was out the window. "It's alright, Fitz. I don't blame you." She articulated that last word with a pointed look at Hunter.

"Well, that's my cue to leave," Hunter said without a hint of remorse. "Have fun, you two." He grabbed both scientists by the shoulders and squished them together until their faces were smooshed against one another. He then darted out of the room, apparently not caring that it was pitch dark and he didn't have a flashlight. 

Jemma felt no sympathy when she heard multiple crashes coming from the direction in which he'd just ran.

Fitz turned to her, and in the dim light of the sole flashlight, she could see his anxious expression. "So... what do you want to do now? It seems that our original plans mainly involved electricity."

She smiled the best that she could. Valentine's day wasn't ruined yet, and she wasn't letting a drunk and bitter colleague causing trouble bring her down. "You," she began, tapping his chest. "Can go get me a flashlight. I'm going to turn on the emergency generator and lights, and then we'll figure this out together."

A small smile returned to Fitz's face. "Sounds like a plan."

***

That was how Jemma ended up, in the dark, wandering around to look for the emergency lights generator. That morning, she’d woken up in a bed, with the man she was in love with’s arms around her. She remembered what she had thought in the blissful moment when her eyes opened. “This day will be great.” Was it too much to ask that her first Valentine’s day with Fitz go smoothly, with power, and worth remembering for a good reason?

She took another look at the blueprints Fitz had given her, in the dim blue-tinted light her flashlight provided. Around this corner, and to the left. Jemma quickly walked over to the door that the generator laid behind. She smiled when she (manually, since the keypads were shot) opened it, setting eyes on the large machine.

The generator made a very satisfying hum when she switched it on, and all the small tinted emergency lights flickered to life. It was still very dim, but far better than a flashlight, that was for sure.

Now all Jemma had to do was find Fitz, who had stayed behind to see if he could quicken the recovery of the power system, and then her day would be back on track. 

***

Fitz finished tapping a few things into his tablet, and groaned at the results. Any measure he could take to advance the system's progress would be too much of a hassle to be worth it. The closest time that the power could come back on was in about twelve hours. He checked his watch (Jemma had told him that it would be useless to buy one that glowed in the dark, but look who was prepared now?) and it informed him that it was 7:25. 

At least I'll have power at 2:00 in the morning, he thought sarcastically.

When Fitz found Hunter (who was probably taking advantage of the numerous dark corners all over the base with Bobbi) the next day, he would have hell to pay.

He looked over at a supply cupboard, in hopes of finding extra blankets, just in case the temperature control inside the base was affected by the lack of power and wouldn't come on later when Jemma activated the generator. As he began to sift through the contents of the cupboard, the emergency lights switched on above him. Fitz smiled at the thought of his girlfriend (which was already a great thought on its own) wandering around the base in the dark, before finally finding the emergency power. His smile grew wider when he did in fact find blankets in with the supplies, amongst other things that set off a brilliant idea in his head.

Fitz pulled out his phone. It was now 7:30, which gave him half an hour to pull together what he was planning. He quickly sent a text to Jemma saying, "meet me in the lounge at 8".

A few seconds later, a reply showed up on his screen. "Alright," she'd responded. Perfect.

So Fitz got to work.

***

Jemma looked at her watch once again. It was now 7:58 pm. She'd just spent the last twenty minutes trying to find her way back around the base and telling Trip what had just happened. Their conversation was basically made up of Jemma explaining the ordeal (she'd tried and failed to keep the annoyance out of her voice), Trip apologizing because he hadn't managed to cut Hunter off of the alcohol and had lost track of him, and him just saying he was going to go to bed, in a defeated tone.

She stopped at the door of the lounge, noticing that all the blinds had been closed to cover the windows. Whatever Fitz had planned was obviously meant to be a surprise. As her hand hovered over the doorknob for a moment, all the possibilities of what could be in that room raced in her mind. 

I swear to god, if it's a monkey.... she thought to herself as she opened the door. 

For the second time that day, Jemma couldn't help but gasp at the surprise Fitz had made for her. This was much better than a monkey.

The room was lit up by dozens of candles, placed on different surfaces all around the area. Blankets were placed on the couch, making it look like the comfiest sofa she'd ever laid eyes on. She scanned the room, and she was definitely sure that the best part of it was Fitz, sitting on a cushion on the floor beside the coffee table, grinning at her.

"Happy Valentine's day, Jem," he greeted, getting up to stand closer to her.

"Fitz, did you do this just now?" she asked, voice shaky. 

He looked down sheepishly, before his eyes came back up to stare at her like she was the moon. "Yeah... Well, I wasn't going to let Hunter ruin our Valentine's day because he was on a drunk rampage so-"

She cut him off, grabbing his tie and using it to pull him against her. Jemma leaned into his touch when he balanced himself and cupped her face with his hands. She sighed against his lips as she kissed him. 

After a few moments, she pulled away - knowing that she was blushing, but not caring. 

"So..." she questioned. "What's in the containers?"

Fitz smiled, dropping a quick kiss to her cheek before answering. "That..." he responded, taking a blanket that was draped over a chair, and wrapping it around her shoulders like a cloak. "Would be dinner."

He guided Jemma over to the coffee table and patted one of the cushions, gesturing for her to sit. She plopped down happily as he sat down at the other side. 

"I'm sorry that it's not fancy," he apologized. "I was going to cook something proper, but the oven needs electricity, which we're, um, limited to right now."

Jemma held up a finger to stop him from going any further with his apologies. "It doesn't matter, Fitz. I love it. What's on the menu?"

Fitz cleared his throat with mock professionalism. "Well, here, we have fish fingers," he said, gesturing to one of the containers. "Cooked over the very best mini oven, courtesy of Skye. And here, we have the very best chocolate chip cookies that the pantry has to offer."

"Yum," Jemma laughed.

"But don't forget," Fitz continued. "The most delicious apple slices ever."

"Anything to drink?"

"Why, of course, love. I have here, the only wine in the entire liquor cupboard that isn't something Skye or Bobbi bought. So, in comparison it must be wonderful."

"Looking forward to it," she smiled. Jemma was about to lean over the table to kiss him, before taking into account the candle situated between them that would probably burn a hole in her shirt if she tried. So she settled for another way to show her affection.

"Thank you, Fitz," she said sincerely. Jemma tried to blink away the tears of happiness that formed in her eyes, hoping that he wouldn't notice them in the dim lighting, and simultaneously loving him enough to not care if he saw her while she was emotional. 

Fitz smiled in response, looking at her tenderly. "Bon appétit," he said, and they clinked their glasses together. 

So, that was how they spent their Valentine's day. It wasn't how they planned, but it worked out better than anything she could have hoped for. They ate their improvised meal of fish sticks, apple slices and cookies, drank their wine, and laughed about everything they'd come across recently. Jemma knew that when she looked back at all the best nights she'd had during her life, this was going to be one of them.

Later on in the evening, they were cuddled together on the couch, covered in blankets and wrapped in each other's arms. As she felt sleep drift into her near future, Jemma told her boyfriend three words that she'd never meant more than she did now.

"I love you, Fitz," she murmured against his chest. After the words were out, she wondered if he'd fallen asleep, but moments later he responded.

"I love you too, Jemma."

Then they both fell asleep with quiet smiles on their faces.

 

Bonus:

"So, what did you get up to yesterday?" Coulson asked, as he unpacked the equipment from his, May, and Skye's (successful) mission, completely unaware that they'd had such an incident with the power the night before.

Mack stood happily, and apparently well rested, in line with the other agents. Fitz had told him the events of last night during breakfast, and the man had laughed so loud that he could’ve shaken the entire base. "I got some sleep."

Jemma saw Lance (who she'd ever so graciously pretended she hadn't seen coming out of his bunk earlier that morning with a disheveled Bobbi in tow) glance nervously at her, and she couldn't help but see Trip and Fitz look at her with the same smirk she believed she must've had on her face.

"Nothing much," the three of them said in unison. Jemma could almost hear the sound of impending blackmail in their voices. She wasn't going to pretend that it wasn't in her own either.

Valentine's day wasn't so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Who can guess the song that Fitz was referencing?


End file.
